Swim England Youth Development squad head to London to start new season

The Swim England Diving Youth Development squad (formerly Team Z) are heading to the London Aquatics Centre this weekend to start the new season.

They’ll take part in one of the squads three-day training camps which are dedicated to nurturing young talent and providing them with the tools they need to support their skills, physical development and mental wellbeing.

The camp in London is the first of the new season, after 11 second year Team Z athletes graduated from the programme in June.

It will take place at the London 2012 Olympic venue where the group will be able to work on their twisting skills as well as developing and refining one of the most difficult skills in diving – the hurdle step.

For the ten athletes on the squad, the camp will be their fourth of the 18-month programme where they’ll be joined by four guest divers in the capital.

The quartet of Emma Armstrong, Felix Wheeler, Phoenix Victory Hopkins and Hakim Whyte have all been invited to train with the team across the three days after putting in some impressive performances throughout the past year.

English coaches and athletes from Dubai will also attend the training camp thanks to a new partnership with Du Dive Dubai which will allow those living in the region the opportunity to learn and develop as part of the squad in the hope of inspiring more athletes to join the teams in the future.

There will also be two special guests to support the team in London with Olympic medallist Anthony Harding and Aquatics GB diving head coach Alexei Evangulov both running sessions at the camp.

After winning bronze in Paris in the Summer, Harding will lead the youngsters in a dryland diving masterclass whilst Evangulov will provide a technical development presentation to the strong coaching team that will be present across the weekend.

‘Inspiring the next generation’

Speaking ahead of the weekend, Swim England talent and inclusion officer for diving and team leader for the camp, Charles Calvert said:  “It’s great to be back for the new season where we can continue to build on the success that British diving has had at both junior and senior level.

“It will be good to see all of our athletes back together in London and to start honing in on some of the key skills to help get their lists competition ready.

“We’ll have a number of workshops across the three days for both them and the coaches joining us to support them with their development as they approach their upcoming events.

“I’m also really excited to have our four guest divers join us after they really impressed us at the Aquatics GB Elite Junior Diving Championships and the Swim England Diving National Age Group Championships earlier this year as well as our friends from Dubai travelling over for the first time.

“We really hope that having them all here in and around the camp and in the presence of our special guests Anthony and Alexei will inspire everyone in attendance to continue their diving journey.”

You can find out more about the Swim England Diving Talent Pathway here and you can see the full list of divers and staff on the camp below.